Douglas, Reuther shingle up

Michael Douglas has set up a new production company with former New Regency Prods. prexy Steven Reuther, folding Stonebridge Prods., his Columbia-based production company, in the process.

Douglas Reuther Prods. pairs Douglas, an Oscar-winning producer for “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” and Reuther, who has been behind such B.O. successes as “Pretty Woman” and “Under Siege.”

And with Douglas the actor, the company also has ready access to one of Hollywood’s biggest box office draws.

“It’s fraught with possibilities,” Reuther said.

The company is negotiating to line up financing, as well as a domestic distribution deal with a studio. Reuther declined to say if the company has any projects lined up, saying, “Michael and I have just come to this partnership.”

The deal will not pull Douglas away from acting. Rather, the new company will funnel projects to Douglas, and he may choose to star in some, according to Reuther.

“It’s all a matter of who’s where when,” Reuther said.

Stonebridge will end its association with Columbia April 30. Douglas formed the company in 1988, landing it on the Col lot when the studio was run by Dawn Steel. During its nearly six-year run, Stonebridge produced “Radio Flyer” and “Flatliners,” among others.

Douglas also produced “Made in America” with New Regency’s Arnon Milchan for Warner Bros.

Reuther joined Warner Bros.-based New Regency in 1989 after running the production arm of Vestron Pictures, where he exec produced “Dirty Dancing,” among others. At New Regency, he produced or executive produced 21 features, including “Sommersby” and the upcoming Tommy Lee Jones-Susan Sarandon starrer, “The Client.”

Reuther is currently producing “Boys on the Side,” an AIDS drama with Whoopi Goldberg, Mary-Louise Parker and Drew Barrymore that’s lensing in Arizona.

When Reuther left New Regency last month, he said he was offered an opportunity to produce with New Regency at Warner Bros., but turned it down.

Reuther and Douglas met on “War of the Roses,” which Milchan produced. The two worked together on last year’s “Made in America” and “Falling Down.”